


Knocking on the Mind

by One Spring Day (OneAutumnAfternoon), OneAutumnAfternoon



Series: And with a drop of honey [1]
Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, M/M, Masato-centric, Natsuki and Haruka have honorable mentions, One Shot, anime-canon meets game-canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-24 05:26:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20902355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneAutumnAfternoon/pseuds/One%20Spring%20Day, https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneAutumnAfternoon/pseuds/OneAutumnAfternoon
Summary: There are scant days left due to their assignment update, and without a partner to aid him with it, Masato requests help from someone that is already done with his. Thankfully Otoya is always readily available to help a friend.





	Knocking on the Mind

This time, Masato had instigated the conversation.

They were given a month for their first assignment. It was supposed to be done in pairs for the students to help each other. One from the composer course would create the melody, and one from the idol course to complete the piece.

A-Class had uneven numbers, so he and another few had risen to the task of completing their songs single-handedly. Masato was one such a student, as had been Shinomiya.

It made sense at the time; the piano was his passion and instrument of choice after all. It had been some time since he had created a piece, but surely, it wouldn’t be too much of a problem now that he had a purpose what to write it for.

He was wrong. It had been two solid weeks since the start of the first assignment and the obligatory demonstration of their progress was fast approaching. Masato had only written a few measly verses and a chorus. Absolutely shameful.

Now he was paying the price of surrendering himself to a round of vaguely intruding questions about his private life if he understood where Ittoki- (‘Masaaa. I told you, it’s _Otoya_!’) was coming from. Sort of.

"No. I fail to understand what you mean."

No, he didn’t understand how having a… What the purpose of _expressing_ romantic interest in someone would be. Not aloud while walking through the middle of the campus where prying ears could reach, regardless of the apparent silence.

Itto- _Otoya_ shoots him an incredulous look at his response, expression contorting in about ten different ways as if he was trying to hold back an unpleasant comment. Masato appreciated the effort, pointless as it might be.

Instead, Otoya muffles a frustrated whine into his hands and shakes his hair vigorously.

Seconds pass and soon enough the uncertainty turns into a weary grin that looks misplaced on his face. That sort of complicated look doesn't fit his youthful demeanor, yet it matches perfectly with the timed, gentle sway at Masato's side.

"C'mon, I've seen how you play." He says, much softer than he’s ever heard him speak in; it’s quiet, but holding that same warm confidence that matched everything he did. Masato would have never imagined he had such a calm voice. It... Fit him surprisingly well.

Just like that, the spike of rigidness on his shoulders Masato didn’t quite notice creeping up on him melts away. Otoya had that effect on people, to make them feel at ease no matter the situation.

"There's someone you want to play for, right? Someone you think about in the heat of the moment."

Masato does not reply right away and very carefully does not focus on the (expectant, eager, _enthusiastic_) smile directed at him.

Instead, his mind flashes back to that heart-wrenching winter afternoon, alone on the snowy streets and hopelessly devoid of purpose. Nothing could compare to the feelings of helplessness and fear he'd felt that day, lost in all but name.

* * *

_He had wandered into his father's study that night, seen him absent of his chair and let curiosity overcome him. The cursed, blessed curiosity that brought him to read the documents upon his desk._

_He found sheets spread across orderly arranged in a singular, horizontal spread. All pages with the same format and name printed on the upper right corner._

_He picked up the first one his eyes got caught on._

_'Hijirikawa Masato' read his father's neat, stylized kanji._

_'Age seventeen through eighteen'_

_'Fourteen through fifteen'_

_'Four through six'_

_Twenty to Twenty-two._

_Confusion didn't last long. This was Masaomi's study, where he planned all of his projects and kept them arranged in order of importance, date, and name. He knew where everything could be, were his father to request a document. Everything but this, of course; his son's life written away in plain sight. What he would have become if he had stayed complacent. A life he would have been ignorant that it wasn't his._

_He ran. He directed a butler (Not Jii, even in his panic he knew his most trusted butler would see through his barely held composure, see him desperate and stop him. But Masato needed to **Get out** right then and there) to drive him to the city and leave him to clear his head._

_Then, in the midst of succumbing to the overwhelming cocktail of emotions sinking their greedy claws in his caving heart, he stumbled across the keys of a piano._

_A soft melody lingered in the backdrop of traffic. A song slowly unraveling a hopeful tune with each bittersweet key; heartfelt and waning just like him, but persevering through it all._

_There in the busy streets stood a girl with a keyboard by the sidewalk. Seemingly uncaring of how people passed quickly by without a glance, utterly focused on the feelings she tried to convey._

_That girl and her song saved his life. The keys of her piano soothed his soul and his heart, little by little through the night._

_A week later, he applied to Saotome Academy._

* * *

"That, that right there! Hold that thought!" A voice called to his left, and the nearing corner store of the campus came into focus. 'Saotomate', what an odd name...

He hears more than sees his friend shifting through his bag. There is a muffled _thump_ at his feet and looking down he sees Otoya crouching on the paved road doing exactly that. He feels like an observer in his own body even as he accepts the notepad and pen that are abruptly thrust to him.

_"Ittoki--"_

"Shhh, _shhh_. Write! Whatever, whoever you were thinking about right then- Remember that." Otoya says, eyes blazing with determination so intense it robs him of breath for a moment. They are incredibly close to one another, up to the point where Masato can almost but not-quite hear Otoya take a breath and--

And then Otoya is dropping down to sit on the ground. He pats down the place by his side as if to brush dirt away from the grass while Masato occupies himself warding a valiant escape attempt from his heart up his throat. He might have choked a little, but no one would be able to tell apart from a polite cough. Right. He was just clearing his throat.

"H-here! Sit Masa! We're gonna be here for a while."

Yes, they had a - he - _Masato_ had a song to write for the exam. Of course.

"We're gonna make your mystery-person smile, yeah? You'll be done in no time!"

**Author's Note:**

> Masato has a thing for soft and, ah, _resolute._ His heart is fragile ok.


End file.
